Chemical recycling: Can it really solve the plastic problem?

From hard-hitting environmental advocacy to manufacturers’ grand proclamations of recycled packaging, it’s hard to avoid the spiralling plastic problem the planet is facing.

Traditional methods for recycling plastics are deeply flawed and sadly don’t come close to solving the problem when so much virgin plastic continues to be cranked out.

Chemical recycling is being touted as a new solution to the inefficiencies of mechanical methods, due to its capacity to break down all types of plastics to their bare bones for use in new products.

But before we unpack the potential of chemical recycling, let’s take a look at just how serious the plastic problem has become…

The huge plastic problem

A whopping 353 metric tonnes of plastic waste is generated globally every year, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Of that amount, only 9% is recycled.

In the UK, the picture isn’t quite so bleak. Recoup reports that just under 50% of plastic waste is recycled across the nation, although most of it is exported overseas, presenting its own environmental concerns.

The problem with plastic is that it can only be recycled using traditional methods a certain number of times before the polymers break down too much to be useful.

With today’s commonly adopted methods, only three of the seven main categories of plastic used in packaging can actually be recycled effectively:

• Polyethylene terephthalate (PET, the type water bottles are made from),
• High-density polyethylene (HDPE, the type milk bottles are made from) and
• Polypropylene (PP, the type margarine tubs and ready-meal trays are made from).

Soft plastics like films and crisp packets can’t be recycled mechanically (although plenty of people don’t know this and continue to put them out from domestic recycling collections) and waste polystyrene can’t easily be put to good use either.

MORE: 10 common recycling mistakes you’re probably making

SunSkips is already doing what it can to get the most out of difficult to recycle plastics by meticulously separating it at our sites and sending it off to be made into solid recovered fuel, used in industrial kilns.

This is a far better option than simply sending it to landfill, but it’s still essentially creating a fossil fuel, which will ultimately send carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and contribute to other environmental problems.

And it’s not just the complexities of recycling plastics standing in the way of a future where plastics aren’t cluttering up landfills and polluting our oceans…

Economic factors

On top of the logistical challenges of recycling plastic, it’s simply not an attractive proposition for companies to spend more on expensive recycled plastics.

Virgin plastic production keeps increasing 4-5% year-on-year, says Roland Geyer, professor of Environmental Science at UC Santa Barbara – and it’s showing no signs of stopping.

Pressure is constantly piled onto manufacturers to use recycled plastics, and many are responding to consumer demands for greener practices, but it simply isn’t making a big enough dent to stop the problem spiralling even further out of control.

So with mechanical plastic recycling not quite doing the trick and global firms unwilling to adopt significantly more environmentally friendly production methods, what else are we left with?

Chemical recycling

New recycling technologies are emerging that could potentially lead to a better way of solving the plastic problem.

Chemical recycling is a process that extracts more value from plastic polymers and is capable of breaking down all seven types of plastic, including notoriously difficult to recycle plastics like polystyrene.

Essentially, chemical recycling reduces plastics down to their raw ingredients so they can be used to make new products and chemicals.

The hope is that this would divert considerably more plastic from landfill, seeing as all plastics can be recycled this way and packaging companies would be happy to buy in the extractions to make virgin plastics.

Companies like Brightmark in the US and Agilyx in Norway are leading the way in chemical recycling, with the goal of eliminating the need for 100% virgin plastic and fuel production altogether.

Plastic Energy, a UK-based team with chemical recycling plants in Spain, is converting mixed plastics into diesel and naphtha, and has plans for 10 sites across Asia and Europe by 2023

Another UK company, Big Atom Tyre Recycling, is applying chemical recycling to “reverse engineer” tyres and combat the 1.5 billion dumped around the world every year.

So how exactly does chemical recycling break down something as tricky to pull apart as plastic and rubber?

How chemical recycling works

There are three main chemical recycling methods being actively developed today:

Purification

Purification is a chemical recycling process that uses solvents to dissolve plastic waste before cleansing the additives from the polymers.

The purified polymers can then be crystallised and made into new products.

Depolymerisation

Long hydrocarbon chains are broken down into monomers through depolymerisation using a combination of chemicals, solvents and heat.

Monomers can then be used to make plastic polymers and put back into plastic production.

Feedstock (thermal conversion)

This process mainly uses heat to reduce plastic to its most simple molecules. The result is used as feedstock for petrochemical plants.

Once plastics have been reduced back to their original components through chemical recycling, these materials can effectively be used several times over to make new products, unlike mechanical recycling methods.

Of course, if things were that simple, governments around the world would be racing to build the infrastructure necessary for rolling it out…

Criticisms of chemical recycling

As mentioned earlier, a lot of the processes and even results of chemical recycling contribute to burning fossil fuels, which environmentally speaking could be viewed as borrowing from Peter to pay Paul.

Chemical recycling plants are also producing large amounts of hazardous waste, which has led to calls for more regulations on the industry.

And with more being done to improve plastic recycling rates through chemical recycling, it may serve to encourage manufacturers to pump out even more of the virgin stuff on the grounds that it’s no longer a big issue.

Many argue that we should focus on simply stopping the production of so much plastic in the first place.

This is a sentiment that UK Prime minister Boris Johnson voiced last year (albeit somewhat clumsily in front of a room full of children), saying that plastic recycling “doesn’t work”.

Time will tell what impact chemical recycling will make on the plastic problem, and if it can balance out the other environmental concerns enough to justify adopting on a global scale.

But while there are inherent challenges for the relatively new industry, the mission of chemical recycling proponents is clear: dramatically reduce the amount of plastic sent to landfill by filling the gap left by mechanical recycling and help build a circular economy where very little goes to waste.

SunSkips is passionate about diverting plastic waste from landfill and employs several innovative methods to recycle plastic waste including converting it into SRF. If you’re looking for a waste management service that’s conscious of their environmental impact, call SunSkips today so we can discuss making your processes greener.